We've all heard the worn-out clich: "a picture is worth a thousand words". It may be an overused expression, but when you see a great photograph, it's impossible to argue with. Photography can be a truly powerful medium, both when it is used purely as an artistic tool, and when it is used to document important events taking place in the world. It is the practice of photojournalism, however, that has produced the most profound, insightful and emotive images. The most powerful shots crystallise moments in history and either open the eyes of the world to suffering and injustice or symbolise hope for the future.
War photographers, or those who travel to scenes of natural disasters, for example, often find that they are confronted with challenging moral dilemmas. In their journalistic role, they are there to document rather than intervene in the events they witness. This may seem like a job for soulless individuals, but photographers routinely risk death themselves in their effort to spread awareness of human tragedies.
The photo that perhaps best encapsulates the moral dilemmas faced by journalists, whilst also conveying the risks they take, was taken by Nick Ut in Vietnam in 1972. It depicts a group of Vietnamese children fleeing a US napalm attack, with a naked, screaming girl named Kim Phuc at the centre of the image. The photo made a global impact, graphically illustrating the suffering being caused at the hands of the American military, and further galvanizing the anti-war movement.
Perhaps even more disturbing is a photo known as The Last Jew of Vinnista. Found in the personal photo album of a Nazi SS soldier, it was taken in 1941 and shows an emaciated Jewish man sitting on the edge of a corpse-filled ditch, with a death camp guard holding a pistol to the back of his head. He was killed perhaps less than a second after the photo was taken. There were 28,000 Jews living in the Ukranian city when WWII began - none of them survived.
Whilst photos like these derive their power from their brutal representation of humanity at its worst, images that convey the beauty and promise of the human condition can have just as much impact. Fast forward to the end of WWII, in which so many millions of lives were lost, and behold US Marine photographer Joe Rosenthal's iconic shot of four of his colleagues struggling to raise the American flag on Mount Suribachi in Japan. It was taken under heavy enemy fire, and perfectly conveys the courage of the soldiers fighting for a cause they were profoundly committed to. Whilst some may feel this image is tarnished by America's neo-imperial behaviour in recent times, it nevertheless shows what the ideal of freedom meant to the 4 individuals in the frame, as well as the man behind the camera.
War photographers, or those who travel to scenes of natural disasters, for example, often find that they are confronted with challenging moral dilemmas. In their journalistic role, they are there to document rather than intervene in the events they witness. This may seem like a job for soulless individuals, but photographers routinely risk death themselves in their effort to spread awareness of human tragedies.
The photo that perhaps best encapsulates the moral dilemmas faced by journalists, whilst also conveying the risks they take, was taken by Nick Ut in Vietnam in 1972. It depicts a group of Vietnamese children fleeing a US napalm attack, with a naked, screaming girl named Kim Phuc at the centre of the image. The photo made a global impact, graphically illustrating the suffering being caused at the hands of the American military, and further galvanizing the anti-war movement.
Perhaps even more disturbing is a photo known as The Last Jew of Vinnista. Found in the personal photo album of a Nazi SS soldier, it was taken in 1941 and shows an emaciated Jewish man sitting on the edge of a corpse-filled ditch, with a death camp guard holding a pistol to the back of his head. He was killed perhaps less than a second after the photo was taken. There were 28,000 Jews living in the Ukranian city when WWII began - none of them survived.
Whilst photos like these derive their power from their brutal representation of humanity at its worst, images that convey the beauty and promise of the human condition can have just as much impact. Fast forward to the end of WWII, in which so many millions of lives were lost, and behold US Marine photographer Joe Rosenthal's iconic shot of four of his colleagues struggling to raise the American flag on Mount Suribachi in Japan. It was taken under heavy enemy fire, and perfectly conveys the courage of the soldiers fighting for a cause they were profoundly committed to. Whilst some may feel this image is tarnished by America's neo-imperial behaviour in recent times, it nevertheless shows what the ideal of freedom meant to the 4 individuals in the frame, as well as the man behind the camera.
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